52

52
“Ais…” Her name slurred from me. I trapped her in a long kiss before, finally, the stupefying gratification of sex bled away and I was reminded of the Mythguard’s mission once more. “We should go back downstairs.”

“If you texted Sebastian, do you think he’d give you an update?” she asked, sitting up.

“I’d like to try.”

“Okay.” Aislin gave me one last kiss before extracting herself from my lap.

Despite having made the suggestion, I lingered instead, watching her collect her clothes off the floor. She glanced back at me over her shoulder, tossing me a wink and a smile. It made my heart flutter. There was no doubt about it now: I was very much enamored with her. Possibly even in love.

But I kept this to myself as I got to my feet, cleaning myself up before getting dressed too. Back downstairs, most of my pack had been minding their own business, either unaware of mine and Aislin’s dalliances, or just unbothered. We weren’t the only ones seeking distraction in any way possible. A couple of other mated pairs had gone off to spend time with each other too. There was little else to do besides waiting, so anything to take the edge off was a welcome pastime.

I tapped out a text to Sebastian, ‘Any word from the recon team?’

A few seconds later, the reply arrived. ‘They haven’t located anyone yet.’

‘You mean they haven’t found any of the selected shifters?’

‘No. There’s nobody in Dalesbloom.’

I stared at the phone, unsure if I was interpreting him correctly. ‘No shifters at all?’

‘None.’

‘Are they all at Hexen Manor?’

‘They’ve been surveying the building, but there’s no activity outside or in.’

‘What about scents?’

‘The wolf on our recon team can’t detect any fresh scents. The most recent seems to be David from yesterday.’

‘What does that mean?’

Sebastian took a few minutes extra to answer me. ‘It might mean that they’ve vacated the territory.’

“Shit,” I said out loud.

Aislin leaned in beside me. “What is it?”

“I think David’s taken everyone out of Dalesbloom.”

She stiffened in shock. The rest of my pack, having heard this news, all turned their attention to me. I looked out over all of them, then read the texts again.

“He must have known that the Mythguard would come for him after attacking us. It sounds like they may have possibly abandoned the territory and gone into hiding,” I added, then slowly shook my head. “I can’t say for sure. But Sebastian says the most recent scent in the territory was David from yesterday.”

“What does that mean for us?” asked one of my packmates.

“It could mean we’re safe for now, or it could mean the opposite. We don’t know where they’ll be, so we don’t know what direction to watch them from. They’re clearly evading the Mythguard,” I explained.

“What do we do, then?” asked another packmate.

“There’s nothing we can do at the moment besides wait for the extermination attempt to conclude,” I told them. “We’ll wait from the official report from Sebastian.”

My packmates began murmuring among themselves, concerned with the disappearance of our enemies. I was too. This meant that we really had no idea what David might be planning. We would be holding our breath for who knew how long.

I called up Gavin next. “Any activity outside the hotel?”

“None, why?”

So I told him what Sebastian had told me, and Gavin shared the same sentiment as the rest of my pack. Now all of us were tense with uncertainty.

It was another hour that we had to wait before Sebastian sent the next update. ‘Confirmed, there are no shifters around Hexen Manor. The most recent scent trail leads north past their borders.’

North would place them on the far opposite end of the Gunnison area from us and Grandbay. The distance was reassuring, but in the grand scheme of things didn’t mean much. There would still be ample time before the next full moon for David to regroup and figure out a new plan of attack.

‘Our recon team is pulling back now. We aren’t equipped to go beyond Dalesbloom.’

My heart sank with disappointment. David and his followers would survive this night, leaving us wrought with anxiety still over their next move.

‘Our shifter detected something interesting, however. There is an unfamiliar shifter scent near the north borders. We believe it’s Muriel’s daughter, Kiara.’

I stared at the message for a long time. Surprised that Sebastian would even divulge this to me, I showed the message to Aislin.

“No way,” she murmured. “Wait. Isn’t she a unicorn? How could they smell her?”

“I don’t know.”

Aislin gasped. “Oh my God. Does that mean they caught her?”

“He would have said if their scents intermingled,” I replied. “But maybe they haven’t determined that yet.”

“We need to tell Muriel.”

This thought made my chest constrict. There were still too many unknowns for me to feel comfortable sharing that with Muriel. But at the same time, it was her daughter—she deserved to know that Kiara was in the area. I feared that the Mythguard would end up tracking down Kiara and relocating her before Muriel could know, so, in the end, I sighed and nodded. “Yes, I agree.”

Upstairs, my office phone rang next. Agitation brewed in me that somebody outside of pack business might be trying to contact me. If it was an emergency at the lumber mill, they would have called my cellphone, but it was also too late in the evening for any of the machines to be running. I couldn’t imagine what it possibly might be, but I went upstairs anyway, and Aislin followed swiftly behind me. The office phone was already on its fourth ring when I abruptly answered it, “Hello?”

Silence stretched on for an agonizing minute before a distorted voice spoke, “We’re coming for the Grandbay Hotel. Room 303. Everyone will die… the unicorn belongs to us.”

My stomach dropped. “Who is this?”

But there was no response beyond that. The phone clicked, and whoever was on the other line hung up.

I held the receiver in disbelief, staring out the wide window overlooking my mountainside.

“What was that?” prompted Aislin.

“I think it was somebody from Dalesbloom,” I said. “I couldn’t recognize the voice. They must have used something to disguise themselves. They said they’re coming for the Grandbay Hotel, and they knew the exact room everyone’s staying in. Room 303.”